


On Your Left

by Julandran



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Captain America: The First Avenger - in reference, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-22
Updated: 2014-06-22
Packaged: 2018-02-05 18:34:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 499
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1828207
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Julandran/pseuds/Julandran
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What made Steve decide to mess with a stranger on his morning run?</p><p>A slightly different perspective on that scene at the beginning of Cap 2.</p>
            </blockquote>





	On Your Left

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by Tumblr user unpretty's post (http://unpretty.tumblr.com/post/85374366518/okay-so-i-had-been-spoilered-all-to-hell-already) asking why Steve was teasing someone he'd never met, and whether he just goes around messing with people Bill Murray style. This is what my brain spit out.

There's a camaraderie among soldiers — even soldiers who have never met — that means they understand each other to a certain degree. There's a competitiveness, too, the result of boot camp drills and training exercises and the echoes of drill sergeants yelling in each and every one of their ears. And there's a physicality, a way of moving, that allows them to recognize each other on sight, even when they're out in the civilian world.

When Steve sees the other soldier on his morning run around the reflecting pool on the National Mall, it brings up memories. In his mind, he's huffing behind the group at Camp Lehigh lugging a rifle half his own size. He's trudging through a French forest with the Howling Commandos. He's handing out tactics to Rumlow and his unit on the fly.

The first time, it's simple courtesy.

"On your left." That's what you say to warn someone you're about to pass them.

The second time, Steve feels a tiny pang of satisfaction. After a childhood full of infirmities, he still gets a kick out of the simple existence, the innate _power_ of his enhanced body sometimes. It's… well, it's _cool_ to be able to do what he can do.

The other man's surprise makes it even better. Every time Steve laps him, the soldier gets more and more irritated until it turns to resignation. (And, okay, Steve puts on a little extra burst of speed when he passes him just to rub it in. It's kind of mean, he supposes, but it's all in good fun and pretty harmless in the grand scheme of things.) For a short while, it's almost like the old days, messing around during PT with his friends in some half-bombed-out village near the front lines. It's _fun_.

Steve Rogers doesn't get a lot of opportunities to have fun these days.

When he feels like he's exercised enough for one morning, he seeks out the other soldier to make sure there aren't any hard feelings. Luckily, Sam Wilson has already recognized Steve and made his peace with not being able to keep up. (Mostly.) The candor Wilson elicits is a surprise, but a nice one. The camaraderie is there, even though they were born and trained half a century apart. He actually considers visiting the VA center sometime soon.

And then the message from Agent Romanoff arrives, followed by Natasha herself. Once more unto the breach and all that.

"I'm here to pick up a fossil." She thinks she's funny. Maybe she is. She reminds him of Bucky in some ways, including that wry, one-sided smirk. Steve says his goodbye to Sam Wilson and notes that the younger man is reacting to Natasha the way most men do. He briefly considers trying to set them up, turning the tables on her incessant matchmaking efforts, but no. If she wants to pursue it, she will. Romanoff isn't shy.

No time to think about it now, anyway. There's work to be done.

**Author's Note:**

> This was originally posted to my Tumblr, if you're into that sort of thing.
> 
> (http://julandran.tumblr.com/post/88768229365/unpretty-okay-so-i-had-been-spoilered-all-to)


End file.
